PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICES

MITHRA 181 – WOMEN HELPLINE

The Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC) has set up a 24/7 information and emergency helpline for women in Kerala on the basis of the framework proposed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. The helpline creates an infrastructure of support for women at all times and for varied purposes with the principles of efficiency and continuous feedback mechanisms at its core.

The Mithra 181 WHL is designed in a holistic manner to ensure that no woman is excluded from this service. The helpline will at its best be accessible, responsive and effective in its objective of creating a safe and secure state for them. The Mithra 181 WHL will facilitate a crisis and a non-crisis intervention through referrals to the appropriate agencies such as police/ hospital/ ambulance services/ One Stop Centre and other agencies. Adolescent girls, women facing domestic violence or other forms of harassment and transgenders can avail the 24/7 services of Mithra 181 WHL.

Objectives

To ensure women and girls have a reliable government intervention to fall back on in cases of emergencies or when in need of accurate information.

To provide a toll- free 24 hours telecom service to women affected by violence seeking support and women seeking information.

To provide information about the appropriate support services, government schemes and programmes available to the woman with the local area in which she resides or is employed.

To build a helpline that has a strong follow-up arrangement and sees to it that every complaint that comes to them is seen to its completion.

To counsel women who are in distress and who require urgent mental and emotional help.

To build a disabled women friendly helpline.

SHE-TOILET

The Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation Ltd, working for the upliftment of women in the state has implemented the She toilet project in the state to tackle problems of female hygiene and access to sanitation in public spaces. There are a total of 57 She-toilet units across Kerala. The very first electronic, fully automated she- toilet units offer respite to women, because there are very few public toilets around and even they are filthy and unfit for use. They are so well designed and equipped that it thoroughly caters to all sanitation needs of the women as it contains sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators to burn the used napkins, along with self- washing and sterilization functions.

The automatic, unmanned, she – toilet are based on cost- effective and environment friendly technology. It is eco-friendly in that the waste decomposition is done with bio enzymes and the water used for self-washing is recycled for future use. The said toilets are women friendly, reflecting an Indian touch in one and all its features. Further, the toilets are also having common facilities like automatic payment collection; automatic door opening, ‘busy’ and ‘free’ display boards and an automatic platform cleaning system. The use of hi-technology in these toilets will overcome all human errs that make comfort stations intolerable.

The Corporation has also installed 12 She-toilets at the major Railway Stations in Northern Kerala. The corporation intends to expand the reach of the project further, so as to ensure that every woman has access to clean, hygienic and fully equipped women-friendly public toilets.

SHE PAD: Menstrual Hygiene Management

One of the major problems faced by the women in Kerala is the lack of awareness about menstrual hygiene. Maintaining hygiene during menses is important for women’s well-being, mobility and dignity. The topic of menstruation is cloaked in secrecy and negativity; especially in India it is associated with cultural and religious taboos and is therefore often neglected. A gross lack of awareness on menstrual preparedness and management among adolescent girls exists.

‘Sanitary Protection: Every woman’s health right’, a study conducted by A C Nielsen and reviewed and endorsed by the community development organization Plan India, reveals that only 12% of India’s 355 million menstruating women use sanitary napkins. Around 23% of adolescent girls in the age-group 12-18 drop out of school after they begin menstruating because of inadequate menstrual protection like sanitary napkins; those who are in school absent themselves for an average of five days a month.

Sanitary Napkin is a universally needed product for women to ensure hygiene during menstruation periods. Limited access to safe and affordable sanitary products and facilities is believed to be one of the reasons for constrained school attendance, high dropout rates and ill-health due to infection. The availability of affordable high quality sanitary napkins as per their needs and preferences is a blessing to address menstrual hygiene issues and also for maintaining good health condition during the period. Accessibility to affordable sanitary pads in the school premises will be of great blessing for every girl child in our country.

Objectives

To create awareness on menstrual hygiene

To distribute sanitary napkins to girl students of Govt./Aided schools.

To distribute napkin vending machines and incinerators to each of the schools covered under the scheme to ensure functionality of the project.

WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTEL- SHE STAY

With the progressive change in the economic structure of the country more and more women are living out of their homes in search of employment in big cities and urban and rural townships. The one main difficulty that is faced by such women would be the lack of safety and convenient accommodation. Setting up of working women’s hostels alters this perception by providing women that safe haven, a home away from home where they can return after a long day’s work.

Working women’s hostel is an initiative undertaken by KSWDC to provide safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women who need to live away from their families due to professional commitments. Currently hostels have been set up in five districts Trivandrum, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kannur and is soon to be established in Kozhikode and Kasargode. Out of the eight hostels, IVA hostel located in Thiruvanathapuram is equipped with three star facilities and is a much sought after residential option for outstation female employees.